


Drawing Silver From Stone

by SpectralScathath



Category: RWBY
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mercury is a human disaster, Model AU, Modern AU, Surfer Dude! Sun, and that's okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28925550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpectralScathath/pseuds/SpectralScathath
Summary: Mercury is trying to live a boring life with a normal routine, when the new neighbour proves to be a bit more of an enigma then his bright smile and blond hair would suggest.A Secret Santa Gift!
Relationships: Mercury Black/Sun Wukong
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Drawing Silver From Stone

Mercury scowled as he rifled through his mail, dark circles under his eyes from another sleepless night. He could see the names of other tenants that had gotten mixed in with his mail, placing those on the reception desk of the apartment building. Junk, junk, something for Jaune, restaurant advertisements aka more junk, and a bill. Whoopty-fucking-doo. 

He shoved the letter into the pocket of his hoodie and tossed the junk in the trash, silvery eyes sweeping the lobby out of habit before he locked his letterbox shut with a click. He heard footsteps behind him, ones that he didn’t recognise out of the many other tenants he’d taught himself to recognise, and turned around, fist clenching at his side in preparation for a scrap.

A set of sparkling stormy eyes smiled back at him, a wide grin with prominent canines plastered across the blond man’s face. “Hi!”

Mercury blinked. Blinked again. Forced his hand to uncurl from its fist. “... Hey.”

“I’m Sun, I’m in room 108?” Mercury noticed a tail swishing behind the man and realised that was the reason for the fangs. All faunus had them. “Is it cool if I can check my mail?”

Mercury put on a smirk and stepped aside, hands going back into his pockets. “Feel free.”

“Thanks!” Sun beamed at him, wearing a light blue crop top marked with Hanzi, the unfortunate fabric stretching over his broad chest. He seemed to bounce forward, golden-furred tail swishing as he dug through his mailbox. “So- you lived here a while? I’m new.”

“A while.” Mercury answered vaguely, edging a few steps towards the stairs. Room 108. Directly below Mercury’s room. This dude better not get annoyed about Mercury’s steps being heavy. The last guy who’d lived in 108 had been a real wanker.

“Cool!” Sun emerged with a notice for a package and a big grin. “Nice to meet you, I’m Sun!”

“Whatever,” Mercury brushed him off, hopping the banister to the stairs and pushing the whole interaction out of his head. He wasn’t interested in dealing with another idiot in his apartment block. 

“Oh- uh, okay!” Sun called up the stairs, Mercury hastening his steps. “I’ll see you around, I guess!”

Mercury gave a faint wave without looking back, quickly taking the steps two at a time until he could lock himself in his apartment. Great. Just what his life needed, more stupid positive people. As if the rest of the idiots in this apartment weren’t trouble enough.

* * *

Mercury stared at the pouring rain from the alcove of his apartment block, already dreading how his umbrella wouldn’t actually work as much as he wanted it to to keep himself dry. Fuck it though. Couldn’t be helped. He had a routine that he needed to keep to, and he wasn’t going to let a bit of water ruin his day. 

He stuck to the edges of the steps that led up to his apartment block, because the bastard landlord still hadn’t fucking put in a ramp the ableist fuck, and tried to avoid the worst of the puddles that logged the middle of the stairs. His umbrella dripped water around him like bizarro jellyfish tendrils as he shuffled down the street, carefully picking his path to avoid any puddles that could overcome his waterproofed boots. 

It made for slow going, his hood pulled up and his rucksack strap heavy on his shoulder as he trudged down the empty street, the sky dismally grey as the occasional car splashed by. He kept his eyes forward, eyes flicking to the side at one point when he spotted movement behind a window, something in the back of his brain automatically doing a threat assessment and discarding the people in the 24-hour gym as non-threats.

He saw a flash of blond hair and rolled his eyes. Looked like New Apartment Guy was as much of a gym junkie as everyone else in the goddamn complex. 

He heard a motor running, tires skidding, and had just enough time to process how much his day was about to suck before some asshole in a porsche drove directly into the collected water at the side of the road, splashing it up right where Mercury’s umbrella couldn’t do shit and soaking him from head to toe in muddy water. 

He whirled, hurling an insult and a rude gesture at the fleeing vehicle, silver eyes sparking with fury as he logged the licence plate in his brain. Okay. Yeah. Fuck his parole, once this rain cleared up he was gonna go slash some tires. 

“Fucking  _ fuck- _ ” he scowled, glancing to make sure his duffel bag had been spared the worst of the water. He heard a little  _ glinglyglinglyglingle  _ sound and a door opening, footsteps on wet tarmac as Room 108 scampered up to him, completely uncaring of the rain.

“Dude, I saw that whole thing,” well wasn’t that just fucking excellent, Mercury  _ really _ needed an audience right about now- “are you okay?” 

“I’m doing great, thanks for asking.” Mercury rolled his eyes and started walking away, feeling the horrible dampness of his unlucky jacket starting to seep through the sleeves and fabric. 

“Hey, wait, hang on, follow me for a sec?” Blondie stepped back into his peripheral vision, the rain plastering his hair to his head and his tank top to his chest, stormy grey eyes so earnest that even Mercury had to pause for a moment. 

“What do you want?” He grumbled, feeling a spike of humiliation that he’d even had witnesses to his misfortune. 

“To get out of this rain? Come on, I won’t keep you long.” The new guy darted back to the gym entrance, the allure of dry air managing to entice Mercury to follow him in. 

The bell over the door went  _ glinglyglinglyglingle _ as they stepped in, a blast of air con hitting Merc like a freight train and drawing an actual shiver from him as he shook off his umbrella. “I fail to see how this is better.” It was still fucking cold. 

“Just wait there, okay?” New Guy disappeared, leaving Mercury standing there in the lobby of a small gym. He spotted the receptionist smiling at him and scowled back, watching as that smile turned into a hurried attempt to look anywhere but Mercury’s death glare. 

He’d never been in this gym before. Passed it plenty, but he didn’t really bother with gyms. He could work out fine at home, and wasn’t interested in being under the spotlight without a good reason for it. His legs or lack thereof tended to cause an unwanted spotlight. 

He set his duffel bag and umbrella down, plucking at the fabric of his gloves and stripping them off to get the wet fabric off his hands. He shoved them in his pockets, deciding to just forget about them until he could hit up the laundromat and clean his stuff. 

He noticed Blondie coming back and raised a brow, wondering why he was even bothering to wait. He’d chalk it up to mindless curiosity. Blondie was grinning as he strolled back in, his tail waterlogged and dripping and a towel wrapped around his neck, pushing damp strands of golden hair out of his face as he held out a hoodie. “Here, you can borrow my jacket, it’ll be a lot drier than yours is.”

Mercury glanced at the offered jacket and looked back up. “Are you serious?”

“I’m heading to do some washing after the gym, I can take your jacket and get it cleaned for you, if you’re busy? It’ll be fine, I can just drop by later and we’ll trade back.” New Guy, probably at this point worth calling by his actual name, smiled and shook the hoodie a little bit. “Seriously, it’s fine.”

Mercury stood there, shivering, dirty water beading on the fabric of his jacket as the cold seeped into his bones, and fuck it all, the day had already gone to shit, sanity didn’t matter. “... Fine.” He unzipped his jacket, peeling the sleeves off as the cold air of the gym raised goosebumps on his arms, his tank top only slightly damp, mostly protected by his jacket’s sacrifice. 

Sun held out his other hand, his wrists wrapped in black training wraps. Mercury completed the trade and yanked the jacket on, the fabric soft as it draped over his slimmer frame and began to warm up. He caught the scent of some sort of aftershave, something vaguely earthy, or maybe spicy?

He hit the brakes on that train of thought when he realised he was giving way too much thought to fucking  _ aftershave _ of some rando neighbour and that was not a mental rabbit hole he wanted to go down, absolutely not.

Sun grinned, completely oblivious to Mercury’s weird brain. “Hope it helps! I’ll see you later?”

Mercury shrugged. He could put up with having to look at this guy’s face once more if it got him some warmth and a clean jacket. “You know where I live.” 

“Not in a creepy way,” Sun laughed, Mercury noticing how the movements were more apparent through his gym shirt, soaked through like he’d just done a wet t-shirt competition. 

“See you around,” Mercury grunted, trying to bundle up what was left of his dignity after getting soaked like a stray cat, the oversized hoodie more comfortable then he would have thought as he grabbed his stuff and left. 

He’d managed to reach Ren’s cafe without any other incidents, crossing the street to avoid construction of a new billboard right outside Mercury’s haunt and shooting an instinctive dirty look at the construction guys. He nodded silently to Ren behind the counter, getting a returned acknowledgement, taking his favourite booth in the corner hooking into the wi-fi to get to work as he tucked up the collar of the hoodie a little more. Something  _ spicyearthy _ wafted into his nose, mixing with the smell of his coffee and the warmth of the quiet cafe, and he felt himself relax out of the rain.

* * *

Sun stretched, rolling his shoulders under the bright lights as he shifted his pose, smiling to the camera as he flaunted the clothing. He heard Sienna call for a reshoot and bit back a groan, wanting to hurry up and head home. 

Ilia hurried out and started touching up his makeup. “Feeling tired yet?” She grinned at him, making room for Trifa to come out and check the seams on her work. 

He allowed himself to be used as a living mannequin, smiling brightly at them both. “Yeah, but hey, it’s fun.” And he sometimes got to keep the custom-tailored clothing, since it wouldn’t be worth selling once he’d worn it for a shoot. That was absolutely a plus to being a model.What was even nicer was that Sienna had cornered the market on faunus-friendly underwear, which equalled actual holes for tails that Sun didn’t have to cut out himself. Total win. 

The company and everything was pretty good too, he liked working with Sienna and her crew. She was terrifying, but it kept things a lot more streamlined compared to some of Sun’s horror stories about other shoots. He remembered doing one shoot with Salem’s company and having to work with  _ Cinder… _

“Sun. Perry needs a few more images of your left side,” Sienna broke him from potentially drifting away, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. “You good to keep going?”

“Yeah,” he grinned, watching as she strode off to deal with something else. Neptune,head of lighting, sauntered over, winking at Trifa with his usual confidence. “S’up nerd?”

“Intellectual,” Neptune corrected out of habit. “Shoot’s going well?”

“I think so,” he tilted his chin to let Ilia finish touching up his contour, his friend stepping back to check her work. “What’s up?”

“Your phone’s been going off,” Neptune offered it out. “One of your exes trying to get back together?”

“Nah, you know that me and my exes are cool, Nep.” Sun studied the texts. Drycleaning done. Cool. He hoped Mercury was fine with that, he really wanted to make a good impression. “I’ve got a couple of jackets to pick up from the drycleaners, nothing crazy.” And an excellent excuse to see that hot neighbour again. Mercury seemed cool, if grouchy. Sun didn’t mind it, the grumpiness was actually kind of cute. 

“Right,” Neptune raised a brow, smirking at him like he was in on some joke Sun didn’t know about. Him and his misconceptions. 

“Right?” Sun answered back as innocently as he dared. “Catch ya after the shoot? I want a protein shake.”

“How do you drink that slop?” Ilia groused, packing up her make up kit. She was a lifeline, honestly. So few makeup artists knew how to hide the scars scattered across his brown skin well enough that there was hardly any airbrushing needed in the touch up process. He specifically requested that, honestly. 

“Protein shake!” Neptune cheered. “Come on, Ils, they’re good for you.”

“Slop,” Ilia refuted. Sun shook his head with a laugh as they got ushered off the set, bickering like they’d been friends for years. He turned to face the camera, tilting his head just so to get the right lighting, and posed. 

* * *

Mercury was halfway through the next chapter of his book when he heard a knock on the door, hand automatically twitching towards the nearest sharp object before he caught himself and counted to ten. 

The door got knocked on again, Mercury groaning and fitting a bookmark between the pages as he stood up, wincing a bit as phantom pain shot up his left side. “What.”

“It’s me? Sun? I’ve got your jacket?” The voice on the other side of the door sounded obnoxiously cheery. 

Mercury ripped the door open with more force then he intended, the ache thrumming up and down his side sending him into a mood. Sun’s hands shot back from where he was knocking, curling up in front of his bare chest and _ didn’t this guy own any normal fucking shirts?  _ Why was he walking around basically topless? Showing off rippling abs like he was some sort of ancient statue carved by a horny sculptor?

Mercury expected this of some of the other idiots in the apartment complex, namely lovebirds Nolan and Bolin on the fourth floor and occasionally some of Jaune’s dates, but come on, Mercury wasn’t asking for a show. 

“So, here,” Sun offered a coat hanger with plastic wrap on it, and inside Mercury could see his grey jacket with the stylised winged boot that Emerald had painstakingly stitched on as a ‘congrats for getting out on parole’ gift. 

Mercury took the hanger, cold fingers brushing against Sun’s hand for a moment and holy  _ shit _ the guy ran hot. Maybe it was just in comparison to Mercury having cold hands, but seriously. What was he, a furnace? 

“Thanks.” He knew some basic manners. He wasn’t raised in a barn, even if a barn would have been preferable. “Was this professionally drycleaned?” Who the fuck did that?

“Yeah, I had some stuff I needed to get done up for work, so I just tossed yours in as well, hope that’s alright?” Sun’s tail flicked back and forth, back and forth,and it reminded Mercury of the old street dog he used to feed, who used to slowly wag her tail when she was waiting to see if it was safe. 

“Yeah, that’s fine.” he’d never had professional drycleaning before. Apparently it was a fancy thing, or something. “What do you work as?” What kind of job needed dry cleaned clothes specifically?

“Oh, I’m a model,” Sun beamed, and Mercury could one hundred percent see why. The guy was technically attractive, not that Mercury actually cared. He just compared Sun’s face and sculpted physique with all the models on ads that no one could escape from if they ever stepped foot in a mall. 

“Right.” Mercury did not clutch his jacket to his chest like a lifeline, even if it was one of the very few things he’d ever had gifted to him. Gifts were precious. “So… see you around?”

“Yeah, actually-” Sun looked like he was gearing up for something. “Wanna grab lunch some time? I’ve only moved to this city recently, I used to live, like, three hours out, had to commute in for work and all, and anyway, back to my point, ya know any good places for eats?”

Mercury raised a brow, noticing how hopeful Sun looked, and stepped back. “I’ll get back to you on that,” he lied.

“Sweet!” Sun shot at him with finger guns. “So… see you?”

“Yeah.” Mercury closed the door, not knowing how else to end the conversation. That was weird. He wondered when Sun would get the hint that everyone else in the complex had, that Mercury didn’t  _ do _ ‘neighbours’. 

Mercury kept his headphones clamped on, music blaring as he made his way down the street, sticking to his routine. Routines were a good thing for him, Ironwood had said during their therapy sessions. So Mercury had something approximating a routine. 

Every other day he went to Ren’s cafe, hooked into the wifi there that was far superior then the shitty coverage in his apartment, and would either study, or if it was a monday, send his work to clients. He did a fair amount of freelance ghostwriting when home, but saved all the emails and shit for Mondays. Anyone who didn’t like that had to fucking deal. His system worked for him. Also Mondays sucked, so may as well get the most mind-numbing part of his job done then. 

Today wasn’t a Monday, which meant it was studying. His dad had never let Mercury spend much time in public schools, so he was trying to hurry up and just get his GED so he could tick that box and move on in life. 

Mercury paused as he turned the corner to Ren’s cafe, his playlist halfway through a roaring guitar solo, noticing a severe lack of construction workers where there had used to be plenty. He looked up at the billboard they’d been constructing, firstly noticing that it was finished and uncovered.

The second thing he noticed was the nearly-naked ass of his newest neighbour emblazoned across the board, taking pride of place alongside the fancy sloganing. The briefs, black with a gold signature near the seam and a subtle tiger-stripe print on the band, looked like they’d been fitted way too tight to be comfortable, flaunted shamelessly on Sun’s backside. The photographer had even gone to the trouble of showing off his tail as it had been caught in a cheeky swish, his playful grin looking real even through the photo. 

Mercury broke his stare and scurried into the cafe, hiding away in the back corner as if that would cover up the fact that he’d just been standing on the sidewalk like a  _ mook _ , checking out his neighbour’s ass on a billboard. 

Ren wandered over with Mercury’s regular coffee, placing it on the table. His face was completely blank of any expression, hair tied up in his usual bun with a white-flower hairpin tucked in behind the band. “I see you noticed the billboard.”

“Fuck off, Ren.” A quiet laugh that blended in with the gentle ambience music was Mercury’s only answer. 

* * *

Sun heard banging on his door, setting the surfboard he was waxing aside and hopping the back of the couch, pulling the door open to see his neighbour looking slightly more frazzled then normal. Considering Mercury seemed to run on a scale of ‘twitchy’ to ‘nuclear twitchy’, that said a lot. 

“Hey Merc, what’s up?” Mercury himself, apparently. And he shouldn’t be. Sun heard the footsteps through the ceiling, this guy had no sleep schedule. 

He’d also heard, rarely, if he strained his ears, quiet guitar music filtering down from one window through Sun’s, pinpointing it quickly as coming from Mercury’s window. It was nice. Sun had always liked music, had a wild time as a teenager as the drummer in his and Neptune’s band  _ (they didn’t talk about Scarlet anymore) _ , he’d even picked up the pipa recently, enjoying the distinctive sound of the instrument. 

Mercury, privy to none of this, looked at him like a stunned muppet. “Billboard.” He forced out, looking like he didn’t actually have a plan for what he was saying and regretting that decision.

“Excuse me?” Sun raised a brow, tail flicking quizzically.

Mercury took a moment to gather his thoughts. “The cafe I go to, they’ve got a billboard of your ad.”

“Ooo, which one?” Sun brightened up, grin turning cocky.

“Listen- a little warning next time?” Mercury shifted awkwardly.

“I did say I was a model,” Sun pointed out, before the thought occurred. “I didn’t mention the underwear bit?”

“No. I don’t have any problems with it, it just threw me. Not every day I see my neighbour’s ass on a billboard.” Mercury put his hands in his pockets, slouching in on himself as his eyes darted around, trying to look anywhere before he bit the bullet and looked into Sun’s eyes. Sun marvelled at the flecks of light against the metallic silver. He had really pretty eyes.

Sun stared back, a not-so-small swell of pride blooming in his chest as he realised he’d managed to fluster Mercury a bit. “Hey, with abs like these, covering up is a crime. Besides, I have a great butt.”

Mercury's face fell into an unimpressed glare so fast it gave Sun whiplash. “Sure you do.”

“Don’t be a heretic, man,” Sun snickered. “By the way, you still up for lunch?” If Mercury actually wasn’t he’d drop it, but Mercury seemed like he acted a lot more aloof then he was. 

Mercury scoffed, and Sun wondered for a second if he was actually going to say no. Then Mercury slipped a hand out of his pocket, smoothing his hair out of his face  _ (H O T) _ , and smirked slightly. “Only to get you off my back.”

“Sure, dude,” Sun smirked back, wondering how much flirting he’d be able to get away with over lunch.

* * *

Mercury stepped into Atlas Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Centre, slinking past the bright-eyed receptionist as she greeted him with her customary ‘Salutations!’ The double doors slid open with a hiss, translucent panes sliding shut behind him as he started the slow trudge to Ironwood’s office. 

He pushed open the door, watching as James looked up from his files, periwinkle-rimmed reading glasses perched on his nose as he smiled at him. “Mercury. Good to see you. How have you been?”

“Can you just send the email to my parole officer already?” Mercury slouched in his seat. “‘Made it to therapy, not murdered anyone this week’.”

“Well, we do have an hour to fill, are you sure you want to end it so quickly?” Ironwood folded his hands on the desk in front of him, the metal of his right hand glinting under the lights. Ironwood’s office was so weird. Mercury spent too long stuck in here not saying anything, trying to count the stars on his constellation rug, or scoff at the little succulent James was fighting a vicious battle to keep alive on his desk. 

“... Oscar and I have been talking recently. In DMs. He's got a crush on some kid named Whitley at his new school. We haven’t done a video chat yet, but that’s on the cards.” Oscar was a good kid. Salem’s Home For Problem Children, not the actual name, had gotten Mercury a friendship with Emerald that he’d somehow managed to keep up, even as she travelled around the world and sent him huge chunks of text and photos whenever she had coverage. 

Salem's custody had also gotten Merc a fucking  _ murder _ charge.

Oscar had been just a kid, stuck with the rest of them. Mercury had seen Mr Rainart, their homeschool teacher, whaling on the poor kid, and he-

Uh.

He didn’t  _ actually _ remember, but Hazel had it coming. Oscar had quickly gotten shunted into a different foster home to deal with fresh new trauma from literally witnessing a murder, and Mercury had been  _ so _ lucky that he’d gotten a lawyer that chewed up Salem’s prosecution and spat it back in that bitch’s face.

Self-defence had meant he’d gotten off easy, aside from some jail time, mandatory therapy and rehabilitation, and getting a rap sheet. Could’ve been worse, honestly. 

“I’ve been keeping up work as a ghost writer,” he started. James’s smile was very encouraging. “Getting paid to write song lyrics, mostly. Couple of crime novels. I can embellish on the gory murder details pretty well. Should get my GED by the end of the year.”

“That’s good to hear, Mercury. You’ve been looking after yourself? I notice you’re using your prosthetics more.” 

“I keep the wheelchair and a cane ready in case things get back, but yeah, I’ve been getting used to them.” He folded his arms. His building was also death for wheelchairs and he hated that. One elevator didn't actually mean 'box ticked, disable access available', despite what his landlord thought. “My neighbours are still annoying.”

“Still?” James chuckled. 

“Yeah. There’s a new guy though.” Mercury wondered what had possessed him to agree to lunch. Or maybe he did. It was stupid, though. But Sun was… not insufferable, he supposed. “He’s okay.”

“High praise coming from you,” James mused. 

“We’re getting lunch. I’m taking him out for pizza.” Mercury elaborated.

“That’s good, Mercury, making connections outside of the people who shared your situation is an excellent sign of progress.”

“Trauma can commonly lead to avoidant behaviour, right?” Mercury recited.

“It can, so being willing to open up and start trying to forge connections with the outside world is a good sign.” James smiled proudly. Mercury sometimes wondered how much of what he said was stuff he learnt from doing a degree in counselling and/or psych, one of the two, and how much was learned experience. He knew Atlas Rehab worked mostly with veterans, and most of the staff still had dog tags around if he knew what to look for. Mercury didn't doubt that he'd be sleeping in his car if it wasn't for people like James. Stupid charitable bastard.

“Right.” Making connections as a sign of progress. Didn’t hurt that Sun was… genuinely nice, so far. Mercury wondered how much of that was a facade. What lurked behind that pretty face? Did anything lurk there or was Sun just… open?

“So,” James cleared his throat. “Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?”

“Yeah, Jim,” Mercury decided to divert the conversation to safer, and funnier, waters. “What’s my horoscope for this week?”

* * *

Mercury sauntered into the pizza place, spotting Sun by the window and walking over to join him. Sun pulled off his headphones, fangs flashing cheerfully at Mercury as he pulled his backpack off the table, a multitude of pins glittering on the front pocket. “S’up dude?”

“Not much.” Mercury wondered how the fuck anyone was meant to react to ‘s’up’ without talking back in the same surfer slang. Did Sun even surf? Come to think of it, Merc had noted a surfboard in Sun’s apartment, what little he’d seen of it. “Yourself?”

“Life’s been good! Flying out to do a shoot in a couple of weeks, Sienna’s gonna put faunus-friendly stuff on the map, she’s excited.” Sun’s tail flicked around, taking hold of his glass of water with expert control. 

“That’s cool.” Mercury wasn’t really well-informed on faunus politics or race relations, but he knew they had a rough deal. “Good luck?” Was that the right thing to say?

“Thanks!” Sun beamed. “So, do you actually want to talk about work, or do you want to talk about something else?”

“You have pins,” Mercury hit on something that could potentially keep a conversation going. He hated awkward silences. Why did he agree to this again? At least once they ordered food he could rely on that to shut the conversation up.

Sun nodded and hefted his bag up, showing Mercury his small collection. “I get pins for my favourite movies and stuff.” 

Mercury recognised most of the designs. “You like horror movies?”

“It’s a love-hate relationship, I’m such a wuss,” Sun laughed. “I like them more when it’s a mix of action and horror. Or like, cool fantasy. Or sci-fi.”

“I like space epics and horror,” Mercury commented. “Horror makes me laugh.” It was so schlocky. 

“You’ve got a stronger stomach then I do,” Sun snorted. 

“Probably,” Mercury smirked back. “I want to see that new one coming out,  _ Denizen of the Deep.  _ It looks like shit.” Terrible monster movies were the fucking best.

“Me too!” Sun’s eyes glinted. “It looks awful. I can’t wait. Wanna go with me? I was gonna drag Neptune or Ilia, but Ilia says she has standards and Neptune’s an even bigger coward than I am.”

“I’ll get back to you on that.” Mercury shrugged. It… could be fun. Maybe. Sun wasn’t terrible company. 

“It’s a date then,” Sun’s eyes sparkled, and Mercury had to pause for a second to recollect his thoughts from where those words had scattered everything about. A date- 

Sun’s grin widened. “Figure of speech, bro.”

Mercury took the offered lifeline. Suaveness was something he used to get shit he wanted, back when he was a teen in high school. Whether it was getting someone to do his work for him, or to just cause general chaos, or even to get into someone’s bed to just forget about how fucked up his life was, it was easier when he secretly hated the person on the other end of his charm. He used people a lot, back then. He didn’t really want to be that kind of cold anymore. 

“Then yeah. Guess it’s a date.” Metaphorically. Making connections was a sign of progress. He didn’t feel like this was bad progress either. 

* * *

Sun walked out of the cinema with Mercury at his shoulder, thrilling in the easy grin across Mercury’s face. He might have spent more of the movie watching Mercury, seeing how the lights from the screen reflected in his eyes and off his silver hair, outlining his jaw and cheekbones in pale blue light. 

“Thank fuck they didn’t show the monster too early and saved it for the end of the film, horror movies that show the monster too early are commiting some sort of cardinal sin.” Mercury was rambling, more than Sun had seen him talk before. He’d come alive, animated, excitement and amusement glittering in his eyes.

“Oh, def,” Sun nodded. “You gotta have the suspense get built up, man. Showing the monster early just takes all the fun out of it. No payoff.”

“Right?” Mercury gestured as he talked. “Man, those were some of the corniest lines I’ve ever heard in a movie.”

“‘It’s not just a monster from the sea’,” Sun imitated in a gruff voice. “‘It’s from…  _ The Deep _ .’” Personally he was still going to hold off from going surfing for a little bit until this movie had cleared out of his system, but there were some things no one admitted to if they wanted to avoid getting rightfully mocked.

Mercury let out an honest laugh at that. “That was terrible. And then the big romantic kiss between the scientist and that dickwad sailor?”

“That was the worst!” Sun grinned. “They had, what, five sentences exchanged and then a chase scene before she was all like ‘I’ve never had personal feelings like this before’, and then they just started snogging? Where’s the romance? I mean, maybe it’s just me but I like a little wining and dining first before the clothes come off, yanno?”

“Yeah,” Mercury rolled his eyes, tugging his jacket around his shoulders as a cold wind bit through them, cool enough that even Sun felt the chill. “Wining and dining, huh?”

“Wining optional, dining is a must,” Sun pretended to be stern as he patted his stomach. “The black hole must be fed.”

Mercury scoffed. “I’ve noticed, good thing I got a separate popcorn or I’d have starved to death in there.”

Sun lightly nudged him with his elbow, hands resting in his pockets. “Don’t worry, you’re too pretty to starve.” 

Mercury only looked flustered for a moment before he rallied back. “Says the guy who’s hot enough to make being pretty your day job.”

Sun raised a brow, a playful curl to his smile. “Is that so?”

Mercury smirked back. “You gotta have at least one positive.”

Sun barked a laugh, clutching his heart. “Ouch, you cut me deep, Merc.” 

“My heart bleeds.”

“Thank you, really feeling the love.” Sun’s tail flicked as his voice turned a touch more serious. “If you’re interested, do you maybe wanna go back to my place?”

“We live in the same place,” Merc replied quickly.

“You know what I mean.” Sun looked him in the eyes, storm grey and steel silver locking. “Only if you’re interested, though. If you want we'll watch movies, I’ve got some good streaming services, we could binge something?” He didn’t really think he’d been subtle. Not super overbearing, but not subtle either. 

Mercury quirked a brow before shrugging, looking nonchalant. “Could be fun.”

* * *

Mercury woke up comfortable, warm, the scent of something  _ spicyearthy _ in his nose, and that was… bizarre. He turned his head to side slightly, seeking an answer, and was greeted with the sound of Sun’s mouth gaped open, fangs on full display as his head topped back over Mercury’s shoulder. Despite the fangs, and the deep breathing Mercury could feel from where they’d just sprawled together mid-movie, Sun’s snores were surprisingly soft, little whuffling sounds that drew out a smile.

Of course even Sun’s  _ snores _ were gentle. 

Mercury vaguely remembered Sun nodding off before he did, collapsing against Mercury’s shoulder. Mercury wasn’t sure how to move him without waking him up, and the warmth Sun radiated had apparently sent him straight off to sleep as well. 

He took a moment to look at Sun from this proximity, gaze tracing over the defined jawline and quirky brows, pearly canines oversized and sharp in Sun’s mouth, a tiny scar slashing through one of his brows that Mercury hadn’t noticed before. 

As if he could feel someone staring, Sun’s thundercloud eyes slid open, a lazy hum reverberating through him as he yawned widely. He blinked sleepily and looked at Mercury. “Yo.”

“Never noticed the scar,” He commented, because it had his attention now. He had plenty of his own, he just didn’t expect a model to be allowed to have scars.

Sun smiled. “Not many do. I get ‘em taken out of any photos.”

“Why?” Mercury asked, genuinely curious. 

“Dunno. Guess it kinda… separates me from the guy in the billboards. I’m not just my job.” Sun pulled off his fingerless gloves, something he wore all the time, just like Merc wore his own, and Mercury could see a very familiar set of scars across the backs of Sun’s knuckles, a thousand tiny lumps from split knuckles. “Besides, most of my scars are pretty personal. I’d rather not get asked about them by every rando who’s seen my ass plastered across a shop window.”

“I get it.” Mercury returned the favour, showing Sun his own hands, from where he’d split the skin throwing punches that the knuckles were rough and almost jagged. “I fought a lot. You?”

“Street fighting,” Sun smiled and gently took Mercury’s hand in his own, his thumb running across the backs of Mercury’s fingers and leaving a brand of searing heat behind. “Eventually got a good job as a mover when I was sixteen and did that for a few years before I lucked into the modelling gig.”

“We could spar, some time.” Mercury offered before he realised what he was offering. “My dad, he was ex-special forces, or something. Taught me everything he knew, whether I wanted to learn or not.” And that was all he was willing to say on the subject. His patchwork skin said more than enough.

“Maybe, I’m kinda rusty.” Sun let go of Mercury’s hand. Mercury took Sun’s and returned the favour, gently manipulating Sun’s fingers, bending them slightly, comparing the two. Sun didn’t have crooked fingers. But his hands were rough and calloused from a lifetime of hard work, and oh so warm.

“Me too. I haven’t fought in a long time.” It might be fun. To test his skills safely. With someone who had the skills to make sure he didn’t get hurt.

“Let’s give it a shot, at some point.” Sun smiled at him, and his weight was still pressing comfortably against Mercury’s side. Mercury hadn’t moved him yet. At least for now, maybe he didn’t want to.

“Yeah.” Mercury drummed the fingers of his free hand on the top of his thigh, feeling the unyielding metal underneath. “Are you… busy today?”

“No?” Sun blinked at him. “Why?”

“Just curious.” Mercury decided to give ‘making connections’ a real go, letting go of Sun’s hand to rest his palm on Sun’s chest, where he could feel a powerful heartbeat. “Wanna take this somewhere more comfortable?”

Sun blinked again, before realisation dawned and his grin turned toothy. “Sounds fun.”

“Yeah it does.” Mercury yanked him closer, pulling him into a kiss that Sun returned eagerly, hands coming up to card through silvery hair, and Mercury decided that this was pretty okay, actually. 

* * *

“He's totally about to get caught,” Mercury commented as they watched the action flick. "Bet ya ten quid."

"Sucker's bet, the tense music kicked in." Sun sipped his tea and set it down again, Mercury's mug of coffee on the table already long gone.

The sounds of shouty words and blasters emerged from the tv speakers as the intrepid space hero got caught infiltrating the enemy ship, and Mercury smirked. "Called it anyway."

"What a shocker," Sun huffed as he stretched out on the couch, his open jacket falling off one shoulder and baring miles of brown skin to the blue light from the tv. The harsh light traced every muscle perfectly, reflecting in Sun’s stormy eyes, and Mercury reached out, just a little bit.

He tapped a finger against Sun’s wrist,  _ tap tap.  _

Sun smiled at him, shifted an arm to make some room, and Mercury slithered close, hooking a metal leg over Sun’s as he sprawled, getting comfortable as Sun’s arm rested around his shoulders and radiated heat.

He watched the fight onscreen for a little longer before shifting to face his boyfriend, lazily pressing a kiss to Sun’s jaw to get his attention. “Hey.”

Sun grinned back, warm fingers resting lightly on Mercury’s jaw as he slotted their mouths together, pulling away for a moment to gently tap their foreheads together. “Hi.”

Mercury smirked and quirked a brow with  _ intention _ , making an offer that got an invitation as Sun’s hands found Merc’s hips and hoisted him onto his lap. This was pretty cool.

**Author's Note:**

> Take the fluff, take all of the fluff. They deserve all of the fluff.
> 
> The other working title for this was '88 Days to orbit a star' but I think that was a little on the nose.


End file.
